Mardi Gras parading is tough work: grueling hours sipping adult beverages on floats, followed by more of the same at Mardi Gras balls. You need lots of energy to fuel your bead-tossing. Red beans and rice is the historic staple of choice to help get you through the day – and night. Any day or night. This is a small-batch, slow-cook interpretation of my friend Charlie Switzer’s recipe. Each year, Charlie makes great-tasting red beans in 50-gallon kettles and serves ’em up free to thousands of Pensacola Beach revelers. The following recipe probably doesn’t vary that much from Charlie’s except in the math. If you expect a crowd, just multiply by 400.
Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients:
1 pound dried red beans
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 pound Thompson’s beef sausage, 1/4-inch
slices (or ham hocks, ham bones, or
anything else from that wonderful animal, the pig)
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1½ quarts water
Cooked rice
Instructions:
The night before the big day, rinse and soak beans, dice veggies and slice sausage. Next morning, put the veggies, sausage (or other meat) and hot sauce into a slow cooker; drain the beans and s hake them into the pot. Add about1 ½ quarts water, put the lid on and set cooker on low heat.
When you get home from work, crank cooker to high heat and start a batch of white rice. Give the beans a good stir to wake them up, crushing some against the pot to help thicken the sauce. Let it run on high for about half an hour, stirring and crushing until the sauce thickens. Salt and pepper as much as your ticker allows, spoon rice into big bowls, then ladle beans on top. Make sure you have lots of good hot sauce around, and something to drink to cool you down.